EUR07: The Ring Goes South

Quick update from the medieval city of Carcassonne.

This city itself is very cool – a little bit overrun with tacky tourist shops (why are they selling 16th-century arquebuses in a medieval city?), but wandering the streets and the fortifications outside is its own reward.

Took a day trip yesterday to Rennes-le-Château. Arrived at Couiza train station (by bus) at 7am or so, and then had a 4.5km walk, uphill, to RLC. Good thing it was cool and overcast in the morning… the hike would have been tough otherwise. RLC is a beautiful small town with an absolutely amazing view of the surrounding Aude valley. It has its fair share of mystery. Those who played through Gabriel Knight III will be familiar with it, though the virtual city in the game doesn’t quite match up with the real thing (only the church and le Tour Magdala are roughly exact copies). After a fantastic lunch (tartare de tomates, filet de canard), I hiked back down, giving myself a nice sun-toasting (not quite burning) in the process. A beautiful day.

Anyway, my interwebs time is short. Wish me luck – at noon I get on the train for a long leg of the trip: Carcassonne -> Montpellier -> Lyon -> Strasbourg -> Munich. Total time: 15h. I’ll arrive in Munich at 3am local time, tomorrow.

From there our road turns East… into Mordor.